I have never owned a 22 mag and i am considering getting one to be able to shoot a little further than my 22 without spending a ton of $$$$.
I am shooting 1" groups at 50 yds with my 10/22. Would like to be able (at least rifle wise) to do the same at 200 or 300yd. Will a 22 mag do it? Would I have to go .223 or other center fire?

__________________Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.Milton Freidman"If you find yourself in a fair fight,,,
Your tactics suck"- Unknown

A .22 Mag probably won't get you 1" groups at even 100 yards, though a few gun/ammo combinations might. And .22 Mag is not cheap, costing almost as much as it costs to reload something like the .223/5.56 (and of course you can't reload .22 Mag.).

There are AR-15 type rifles that will give you that kind of accuracy if you want semi-auto, but for reaching out there with accuracy, you might want to consider a bolt gun in something a bit hotter, like .22-250.

That is a fairly long range. A 223 would be a good choice. 22-250. 204 Ruger.

22 mag is fairly anemic when compared to the 223. After a couple of years shooting with a Marlin bolt tube feed that was MOA accurate, it was evident that for shooting prairie dogs at distance farther than 125 yards, there are better choices.

A good 22. Mag. Well tuned, with a good pilot. Can deffinitly shoot 1" groups at 100 yds. I can do it without much trouble with my .17 HMR, but we're talking about 200-300 yds, with a rimfire. "Forgetaboutit", aint gonna happen. Thats deffinitly .223 or .22-250 time.

I've been a big fan of 22MAg for many years. Its speedy bullets hit like little granades with more power than paper charts would suggest. My Marlin will shoot sub MOA out to 75 yards but groups open up after that considerably. Therefore, I consider it as my 75 yard squirrel decapitator. But it will topple coyotes at 100 yards with solid chest hit.

Jack

__________________
Fire up the grill! Deer hunting IS NOT catch and release.

A few different factory loads will shoot sub-MoA at 100 yards with my Marlin 882 in .22 WMR. A couple loads shoot 3-6 MoA at 100 yards. Most loads, however, come in about 1.5 MoA. (Fairly average from what I've seen; and pretty far from the "can't hit the broad side of a barn" accuracy most people pigeon-hole the .22 WMR with.)

I don't push the .22 WMR much past 150 yards. Beyond that, accuracy suffers enough to make precision shots questionable. The beauty of .22 WMR is the step up to jacketed bullets and added velocity in a rimfire cartridge. Some people just don't like the concept. (I used to be one of them... )

If you want to shoot 200-300 yards, I would recommend a step up to a centerfire. And... If you start thinking about centerfires, give .22 Hornet some thought. It's super-cheap to reload, and a sweet little cartridge. If you don't reload, a .223 might be cheaper to feed; but that depends on what ammunition you feed them.

__________________"Such is the strange way that man works -- first he virtually destroys a species and then does everything in his power to restore it."

I like the .22 mag and as mentioned it will work well out to 100 yards or so. My favorite caliber, especially in a lever action.Yes, the .223 is more powerful, but then a .243 is more powerful than the
.223 and reloading cost is similar so why stop at the .223. The logic that there is something bigger makes no sense. There is always something "bigger." The cost issue is a more valid consideration but the .22 mag is not that expensive to shoot. In the end, get what you like and don't get what you don't klike.

WWWJD,
I have the exact same scope mounted on my mossberg 620k chuckster (single shot bolt) made the first year the 22 mag came out 1959 i believe. and it shoots sub moa at 100 yards with 40 grain winchester hallow points. which is also the first 22wmr load developed if i recall. match made in heaven

My CZ 455 will shoot CCI 30 gr. V-Max rounds 1" groups at 100 yards all day long, but it took some work on my part to get it there. I needed to pillar-bed, free-float, lighten the trigger, modify the firing pin and Loctite the removable barrel in.

A neighbor's cheapo synthetic Savage MK II, .17 HMR shoots .50" groups at 100 yards!!! I did it the first time I tried the rifle and was astounded!!!

The .17 loses quite a bit more energy and has greater wind deflection than .22 WMR at much over 100 yards.

I have shot Nutria, Ground Hogs, and Fox, fartherest shot was 175yrds, with a Volquartsen 22mag loaded with CCI 40gr solids which is still a very accurate set up. But basically anything over 125yrds out to 200 you would be better off with 223 or 22-250. The best I've ever done was a GH at 380yrds with a Sako 22-250 loaded with Hornady 55gr V-max.

The 22 WMR is not a 200 or 300 yard round. I used a tuned up Ruger 10-22 T and Kimber Mdl 82 22 WMR for prairie dog shooting untill I got Cooper 57M LVT 17 HM2 and 17 HMR rifles. Past 150 yards even the 17 HMR little 17 Gr bullet may not expand. I use a 17 Fireball and 204 Ruger rifles for longer shots. For some one starting out the 223 Rem cartridge has some advantages. The brass cost less than some of the other cartridges and there are a wide selection of .224 Cal. bullets. Rem 223 factory is made by all the major ammo compnies. I have a Browning and a Howa 223 Rem varmit rifles that will shoot 1/2 inch five shot 100 yard groups with reloaded ammo. But most of the time I use the 17 FB and 204 R with reloaded ammo.

As the range gets longer, variable factors like wind become more important, therefore if you have a nice 1 MOA gun, it's a lot easier to get 1-inch groups at 100 yards, than 3-inch groups at 300 yards, because the wind's influence on trajectory varies from shot to shot, and the longer the flight path, the more the wind will affect it.

If I understand, you're looking for 1-inch groups at 200 yards (0.5 MOA at 200 yards) or 1-inch groups at 300 yards (0.33 MOA at 300 yards). That's going to be a tall order, even if you're really spending the $$$.

I think you should seek 1 MOA at 100 yards, and if you can do better, be real happy .

__________________
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Are we talking about the maximum accurate range or the maximum point blank range?
I can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards using Wolf MT .22 LR but I have to hold about 8 inches high with my rifle zeroed at 50 yards. This rifle is point blank between 10 and 60 yards with point blank being defined as hitting within 1/2 inch of point of aim.

Using the same definition of point blank, a .22 Magnum should be zeroed at about 75 yards and will be point blank between 15 and 90 yards.

If the target is farther than point blank, you have to hold high, if the target is closer than point blank, you also have to hold high.

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